Flower of Punjab

John W. May

August 22

The orange moon ascends beyond the leaves
Like a child's balloon: upward it looms
Against nebulous night, upward it heaves
Its ancient amber light until it blooms
Like a lotus in the vacuous sky ...

There, alone below the moon's tender glow,
Haleema holds back tears wondering why
Her dear love had to die. Creeds cannot know
The love that lovers undergo, nor feel
Or fathom its sacred birth: when two souls
Touch in a plain beyond this earth and reel
In deepest ecstasy. Yet now there rolls
Soft tears from the heart of a broken soul
Whose only love, by a murderous plot,
Was killed on a leisurely moonlit stroll,
Because he was a Sikh, and she was not.

About this poem

I wanted to write a poem of love that highlighted the tragic aspects of religious persecution, but in such a way as to avoid pointing a finger toward a particular religious group or affiliation. The Flower of Punjab slowly came to me, and I worked on it for about a week. It is a short story of love and tragedy that I enjoyed working on and hope you like.

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Written on June 25, 2022

Submitted by Vixility on August 27, 2022

Modified on March 23, 2023

: 37 sec read
: 392 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	ABABC DCDEFEFGHGH
Closest metre	Iambic pentameter
Characters	656
Words	124
Stanzas	2
Stanza Lengths	5, 11

Full analysis for Flower of Punjab »

John W. May

John W. May has lived in Colorado all his life. He currently works in the field of ophthalmology and loves to mountain bike and read about history. John first became a lover of poetry in 2008 after having read a poem by John Milton. He has been reading and studying the works of various poets since. His favorite poets are Emily Dickinson, Fyodor Tyutchev and W. B. Yeats. more…

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Vixility
Hahaha … this is perfect!
LikeReply2 months ago
- Vixility
  That is, that first reply, Steve …
  LikeReply2 months ago
Symmetry60
Upon another reading, this has provoked me to create another piece. Truly an inspiring piece of craftsmanship here.
LikeReply2 months ago
- Vixility
  Can’t wait to see what you’re working on. Thanks for swinging by …
  LikeReply 12 months ago
Symmetry60
Sikhs (singular Sikh: /sɪk/ sik or /siːk/ seek; Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ, romanized: sikkh, IPA: [sɪkkʰ]) are an ethnoreligious group[84] who adhere to Sikhism,[85] an Indian or Dharmic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak.[86] The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya, meaning 'seeker',[87] 'disciple' or 'student'.[88][89][90] According to Article I of Chapter 1 of the Sikh Rehat Maryada ('code of conduct'), the definition of Sikh is:[91] Any human being who faithfully believes in

One Immortal Being
Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib
The Guru Granth Sahib
The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and
The baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion, is a Sikh. more »
LikeReply 12 months ago
susan.brumel
Just read this poem again. It’s so beautiful, moving...’until it blooms Like a lotus in a vacuous sky’ - swoon worthy!
LikeReply 12 months ago
- Vixility
  Thank you!! This one was not only fun to work on, but challenging as well. I was trying to model it off of a canto style poem.
  
  Side note … I was (and still am) concerned that not too many people will know what a Sikh is. more »
  LikeReply2 months ago
Symmetry60
One of the best pieces of poetry I've ever read. You should consider promoting this one, John. Not sure how this got overlooked, but that is a travesty. Beautiful work.
LikeReply 13 months ago
- Vixility
  Wow! Talk about a compliment. This was a poetry challenge a friend gave to me: a tragic love story. Wasn’t sure how I wanted to start the poem, but I did know I wanted to structure it on a ‘Nabokovian Canto’.
  
  I wrote another poem, “The Huguenot”, that is an anglanized repackaging of this one. Both were enjoyable writes. more »
  LikeReply 13 months ago

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"Flower of Punjab" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/135877/flower-of-punjab>.

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